Source Books Warlord of Mars, WOW!

[comichero]

I just finished reading for the first time, A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, & The Warlord of Mars. All I can say is WOW, what an amazing read those books where. I found myself not wanting to put them down. John Carter was so driven in ERB writings, his love for Dejah Thoris was clearly his driving force behind his actions. In some ways these were loves stories, not like a romance novel, but you know what I mean. He was not someone looking to rule Mars, or even become famous, he just loved fighting and Dejah Thoris. I enjoyed the way Carter was presented, as someone who was good at one thing, fighting! and boy was there plenty of that. however, it also allowed him to grow as the books went on, seeing his son for the first time. and knowing it was his son without having been told first. His intuition was a great tool he used most of the time to good effect. All be it sometimes he did follow the wrong trail. John Carter is just one cool hero to be sure, man he slayed ALOT of people and things over these three books. I also liked that he was not someone (like a conan) who would bed any woman that threw themself at him. A very noble person for sure, something that seems lost on todays comic and movie heroes. Just a pleasure to read and see this story unfold for the first time. I guess I will start over and read them again now. I can not say what my favorite parts where, I did love the battle against the blacks under the surface, that lead to the fall of isis. And the slaying of plant men and white apes by Tars and Carter was beastly in the valley.

[RaceAddict]

Those original books are what led me to Dynamite a few weeks ago... I started reading ERB over my summer vacation and was instantly enthralled! I got through the first two Barsoom novels and the first Tarzan novel (as well as some other reading) and started checking out the Dynamite website as soon as I got home.

Love the books! They're simple, but SO much fun to read. It's pretty amazing when you realize that these century old novels are the basis for so much of the sci-fi/fantasy stories we read and see today.

[comichero]

I agree, they are wonderful to read. However it was just the other way for me. I started with the DE Warlord of Mars comics (only because Joe Jusko was doing the covers.) After reading a few of those comics and seeing what others on this forum were saying about the original ERB books, I decided to get the books for myself. I am glad I did. I am also glad DE started this line of comics, because without that chances are I would never had read these books.

[positronic]

Don't forget there are still another 8 books in ERB's Barsoom series. John Carter is not the main character in all of these books, but they certainly do expand the scope and cast of the world of Barsoom. My personal favorites were The Chessmen of Mars and The Master Mind of Mars.

Funny you should mention romance, because in the days when ERB was writing these, before the term "science fiction" was settled upon as the universal descriptor for the genre, one of the terms in usage was "scientific romance". Back in those days, "romance" was a much broader term that wasn't just limited to our current understanding of it as a synonym for "love story". Swashbucklers and adventure stories fell into the general category of romances.

[comichero]

yeah I have the next two, Thuvia, Maid of Mars, The Chessmen of Mars. I will be starting them soon. should be a great read for sure.

[RaceAddict]

I think it's 11 total in the Barsoom series, right? And something like 22 Tarzan books? Plus the other novels he wrote too... so much good stuff to read.

[positronic]

11 books in the Mars series. Fair warning on the last book, John Carter of Mars:

It contains 2 stories. The first, "John Carter and the Giant of Mars", contains enough glaring inconsistencies with the rest of the Mars canon that its authorship is dubious. The basic story is identical to an earlier published Big Little Book. Possibly this was expanded for publication in Amazing Stories by either John Coleman Burroughs or editor Raymond Palmer.

The second story is "The Skeleton Men of Jupiter". This was intended to be the opening story in a tetralogy (four interlinked novelettes) that would have later been collected as a book (an earlier book in the Mars series, Llana of Gathol, had already been generated using this plan). As such, it is sort-of self-contained, yet still has tantalizing dangling plot-threads that were never realized by ERB in his lifetime.

[Ralok]

I have read all of the books several times . . . I am a bit nuts XD

they are really fun, hard to pick out my favorite though . . . chessmen of mars, gods of mars, or fightning men of mars . . . I cant decide